The Celestial Demon Sound Domain was a demonic realm composed entirely of sound. Through sonic resonance it targeted the five senses and six consciousnesses, ultimately piercing straight through to a person's soul and driving them to madness.
For a cultivator with a heart as unyielding as bedrock, like Jiang Chen, this kind of demonic sound was virtually useless. But not everyone could say the same.
Even some Divine Path cultivators found their minds shaken and their thoughts growing muddled under the influence of this sinister resonance.
The sudden shift threw the entire battle into turmoil. The situation nosedived within moments. Across the entirety of Dongyan Island, apart from Xia Tianze and An Jiaye — who could still hold their ground — every other cultivator, Divine Path included, had begun to experience violent discomfort. Some had already spiraled into frenzied rampages.
"Chen Shao, something's wrong! This demonic sound is corrupting people's minds — it's terrifying." The Four Divine Beast spirits naturally had nothing to fear from the sound, but they were keenly aware of the chaos erupting across Dongyan Island.
Jiang Chen's expression shifted. A silent lament rose in his heart. He knew that his plan to lie in ambush and assassinate the Demon Ancestor was never going to work now.
"Back to Dongyan Island!" he barked without hesitation.
Jiang Chen made his decision on the spot, gathering the four great spirits and teleporting back to Dongyan Island in an instant.
"Four spirits, deal with the Yin Demon faction. I'll handle the Celestial Demon Sound Domain." Without another word, Jiang Chen swept both hands through the empty air before him. A qin materialized out of the void.
This was the Cloud Surge Qin from his fifth seal.
Jiang Chen let out a cold snort. "The Celestial Demon Sound Domain seeks to bewitch the ear and eye. Then let my melody of clouds in motion serve as a counter!"
As he spoke, his fingers danced across the strings with blinding speed. The Cloud Surge Qin's strings erupted with majestic, resounding tones that echoed to every corner of Dongyan Island.
In that instant, the frenzied cultivators shuddered, their emotions seemingly crushed under some invisible force. Their movements gradually slowed.
One note. Two notes.
The melodies of the Cloud Surge Qin rose like gleaming blades of light, surging toward the sky. In moments, clouds churned in every direction as wind whipped into a roiling tempest.
The Cloud Surge Qin held sounds of war, sounds of fortitude, sounds that seized the soul, and sounds that ensnared the mind. What played now was its sound of fortitude — the most open, the most dignified, the most imposing of all.
Every note thundered like a thousand cavalry charging as one, forging an unstoppable stampede that swept away all evil, cleansed all filth, and restored a sky of pure clarity.
"Hmm?"
Hearing the Cloud Surge Qin's sound of fortitude, the cultivators across Dongyan Island felt their minds settle one after another. In disbelief, they turned toward the source of the music.
There sat Jiang Chen, suspended in midair, both hands gliding across the qin. Around the instrument, vortex after vortex of energy swirled into being — as though the myriad phenomena of heaven and earth had gathered in a single place, radiating outward from Jiang Chen in every direction, driving all malevolent forces to retreat.
"It's Chen Shao — him again!"
"Chen Shao's qin melody is neutralizing the demons' sound!"
"What a man, Chen Shao! He's saved us once more. If the Celestial Demon faction's sound can't break us, then what excuse do we have not to fight with everything we've got!"
"Kill the demons! Kill the demons!"
Beyond banishing evil, the sound of fortitude could also bolster morale — even stoke courage, ignite the bloodlust for battle, and drive cultivators to fight with reckless, death-defying ferocity.
The dire crisis facing the human race was reversed once more, this time with the aid of the Cloud Surge Qin. Every cultivator on the island recovered their vigor and launched a ferocious counterattack against the Yin Spirits besieging Dongyan Island.